The Martial Unity

Rui raised an eyebrow with an expression of disbelief at the druid. “You’re kidding, right? I said it can’t be excessive. What makes you think that I would agree to assassinating the Empress of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire?”

“It shouldn’t be too much of a problem for someone of your caliber,” the Whisperer replied to him. “The security she has is high, but not high enough to stop someone of your power.”

“You want me to launch a frontal assault or something?” Rui gazed at her with a dubious expression. “It’s too extreme. In the first place, why do you even want the Empress killed? Given that you haven’t been caught, it seems like you have it pretty good in the Empress’ regime, do you not?”

“…It’s not about me,” the Whisperer replied with a serious tone. “I want Empress Miarlia dead because she’s an impediment to this nation and the greatness it can achieve.”

Her eyes sharpened.

“Do you think nations that can smoothly integrate so many races and hybrids within one territory with minimal sectarian violence and conflict are common?” She sharpened her eyes. “They are not. It is very rare that a nation and culture can successfully assimilate and integrate such a plurality of people within its territory.”

Rui simply stared at her while she continued.

“The Hlakaschken Trade Empire…” Her eyes grew hazy with thought. “…is a nation that has had a messy relationship with monarchy. We are a nation that was slowly developed over many years of immigration from the six continents. That is why we have pureblood races who are truly native to Grinolia Island. Over eons, we have had groups of nomads who took to the seas from the six continents and wound up over here, eventually deciding to settle.”

She heaved a deep breath. “It wasn’t always peaceful. There has always been civil conflict in the past, but it has largely worked out to create the empire comprising many racial and ethnic groups that have retained their identity while still assimilating into the trade empire as a whole. Before the return of the Lost Continent, we used to be the trading center of the world due to geography, but since the return of the Lost Continent, we have decentered from the world map, and trade routes and flux from the East have been completely disrupted.”

“…I can imagine that this has caused great resentment and frustration among the people of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire,” Rui mused knowingly. “To have so much business lost in the blink of an eye. It has undoubtedly caused economic hardships and tribulations.”

“It did,” she admitted. “But the most painful part that the people of this country sustained is the wound to our pride as one of the centers of trade in the entire world. Now that glory belongs entirely to the Panama Continent. It has not been fun, but at the same time, there’s nothing that can be done about it. And, while the loss of our position in the world has been bad, the boundless opportunities that the esoteric treasures of the Panama Continent provide have also been sources of optimism for the people, but…”

Her eyes sharpened.

“The monarch of our trade empire has taken the decentering of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire… much harder than even the common person of our trade empire.”

Rui frowned. “Usually, it’s the opposite.”

Usually, it was the people who harbored great resentment towards a certain outcome or change that they were unable to accept, while the leaders of the people had already accepted the inevitable. In this situation, Rui would have expected the people to harbor resentment for the Panama Continent, while the monarch would have already moved on with what needed to be done.

“She has vowed that she will return the Hlakaschken Trade Empire to the center of trade, one way or another,” the Whisperer remarked with a scornful tone. “She believes that what has happened with the return of the Lost Continent can be undone and the world can go back to the way it was.”

The druid’s eyes sharpened.

“That is what she is counting on.”

Rui’s eyes sharpened. “That’s… that’s absurd.”

Words could begin to describe just how absurd a proposition that was.

Return the world to how it was before the Unfolding?

That was impossible.

The fact that this woman allegedly even considered trying to go for this route was proof that he was dealing with someone highly irrational, although Rui wasn’t certain about how much he could trust the druid’s information either.

“She doesn’t have any specific plan, of course,” the druid remarked. “But she has taken to aligning herself with the known enemies of the Panama Continent; the Evolutionary Army and the Imperial Tekvorian Federation.”

“…” Rui stared at her in disbelief. “The monarch of a trade empire centered around commerce wants to align itself against a continent with exotic treasures and magical resources?”

She nodded. “Absurd, isn’t it? She has even been talking about mobilizing military support for the Army and the Federation, although she hasn’t talked about direct military participation. Losing trade with the dark elves would be bad, after all. While most citizens are looking forward to trade with the Panama Continent, it appears that she has intentions to drag us into a war despite our famous neutrality principle.”

Rui’s expression grew severe. “…Seriously? And you insist that this information is real?”

“There isn’t the faintest doubt about it,” the Whisperer replied knowingly. “You can verify this rather easily, even without me. It is the truth and the only truth. Right now, if that monarch remains on the throne, we will be dragged into a war with the Panama Continent, and that is something that nobody in the Hlakaschken Trade Empire truly wants to see, even if they might harbor resentment towards the Panama Continent for decentering them from the map and reducing the amount of trade they get due to drastically differing geography. That is what I’m trying to stop as someone who was born and brought up in this homeland of mine.”